Chapter Eleven: Nightmare by Avenged Sevenfold
"You should have known, the price of evil
And it hurts to know, that you belong here
No one to call, everybody to fear
Your tragic fate is looking so clear, yeah
It's your fucking nightmare…"
Thanks to kingnick who helped me with this chapter.
Disclaimer: It's on my profile.
o.o.o.o.o.o
BPOV
I was running. I knew that I was an accident waiting to happen when I ran, but something inside me was yelling at me to run.
I wasn't worried about tripping at the moment. I wasn't worried that I was soaking wet. I wasn't even worried that I had scratches all over from running through numerous trees. Sure, the scratches on my face and arms did sting, but that wasn't important right now.
What I was worried about was my destination – Charlie's House. If only I had stayed home. It was stupid to go out cliff diving. But I needed a release somehow.
Something was wrong, I could feel it. Things were already going bad tonight. First, I nearly drowned when the waves were pulling me out into open water. It's nothing short of a miracle that I got out. Second, my truck broke down halfway to the house. Now I was forced to run the rest of the way. And now this, Charlie was in danger.
Charlie's the reason why I'm still semi-living if that's what you would call what I'm doing.
Ever since they left I wanted to give in to the depression. At one point I really thought that I was going to die from a broken heart. It hurt so much. Everyone had given up on me. I eventually shut everyone out at school and they in turn eventually left me alone. I was, essentially, a walking shell of my former self.
But there was one person who didn't give up – Charlie. He did everything he could do to pull me out of my heart ache.
I hated music. He handed me a sketchbook. Mind you, I wasn't at all a good drawer, but we had fun just drawing nonsense.
I hated movies. He took me fishing. Not really something I enjoy, but it was amusing to sit back and watch as he and Billy bantered with each other back and forth. Billy even pushed Charlie into the lake at one time. That might have been one of the first times I really smiled again.
I hated cooking. He bought himself a cookbook and after he blew up the microwave I helped by supervising him.
I hated Forks Hospital. I hated my bedspread. I hated the color blue. I hated sports. I hated Romeo and Juliet. I hated basically everything that was associated with my time with Edward.
Charlie fixed it all the best he could.
And now I could feel as if something was wrong. Why else would instinct be telling me to run to the house as fast as I could?
I was sweaty, tired, and out of breath. I wanted to quit. My body was telling me to stop. But my mind was telling me to keep going. I had to get home. And the pit in my stomach unnerved me.
"Keep running, Bella. Run…don't stop." I told myself. It was best if I didn't talk since I was so out of breath, but I had to have some motivation.
By the time I finally made it to the house my legs felt like jelly. I could swear that they were going to give out at any second. But I ignored that because Charlie's cruiser was here and I knew he should have been at the station.
I barged through the door and sucked in gulps of air. "Charlie?" I called out. It wasn't that loud, but in the silence of the house I knew that anyone would be able to hear it.
I regained myself and looked in the living room, kitchen, and Charlie's room but there was nothing. No sign of him anywhere. No sign of his jacket hanging, no sign of his gun hanging, no sign of his shoes. It's like he wasn't there, but he had to be because his cruiser was parked in the driveway.
"Charlie?" I called out again, timidly. Truthfully I was afraid to call out any louder.
The only place I hadn't looked was my room. But why would he be in there? Nothing is making sense.
I walked towards my room and suddenly I didn't want to look inside. I was too scared to look. What if I didn't like what I found? No, he had to be alright. Maybe he caught a ride with someone to work or maybe he's fishing and forgot to leave a note. I convinced myself that he was out and pushed open my bedroom door.
The walls Charlie had help me build crumbled.
"CHARLIE! Dad! No, Please, no." I ran to his side.
I had a sick sense of déjà vu when I looked over his wounds. A broken leg. A piece of glass in his thigh. His head had a cut. There were two puncture wounds on his arm. The same arm and in the same place that James had bitten me.
I brushed my hand on his face. "Dad, no, please don't leave me." He was cold. I checked his pulse, his heartbeat, if he was breathing. But it was useless.
He was gone.
"No," I cried. Why him? Why me? I grabbed his clenched hand in both of mine and it was then that I noticed the paper crumbled within it. I carefully pulled it from his grasp and read it.
Again, I ran. I ran to the only place where I really felt safe, the Meadow. As I ran I tore up the piece of paper and threw it into the wind wishing I could unread what it said. But the words were imprinted into my mind. I was like a broken record. All I saw were the words from the note, over and over.
Isabella Marie Swan.
Charlie's not the only one.
You took away the one I loved.
And now, I'll take away the ones you love most.
With love,
Victoria.
P.S. Let's see who can make it to Florida first.
o.o.o.o.o.o
"Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly," drawled Bella.
"Bella," Alice sighed. "You can't keep on saying that every single one of the invitations are ugly. Just like you can't say all of the placement settings are ugly. We're trying to plan a wedding here in less than three days."
"Why the hell are there even placement settings to consider? We're vampires." Bella asked.
Ashley glared at her. She knew that Bella was intentionally ruining everything. It was her wedding and she wasn't going to let Isabella get in the way. "My parents and a few other family members will be there, that's why. Alice I really like this one."
Bella growled at the way Ashley had spoken to her. Before Alice could answer back Bella interrupted them. "Whoa, so you're saying that I'm supposed to go to a wedding that I never wanted to attend and I'm supposed to suffer from the smell of not only blood, but disgusting human food too?"
"We didn't force you to attend the wedding, Bella."
"There wouldn't even be a wedding if you just let the Volturi kill the girl." Bella retorted.
"They wouldn't have had to know about Ashley," Alice stressed the name to Bella, "if you hadn't of shown her to them."
Bella rolled her eyes and scoffed. "You think they wouldn't have known? You could smell her stench on each and every one of you."
"I don't recall them asking any questions about her before you showed up." Alice countered. Her and Bella had unconsciously stood up from their respective seats and gravitated towards each other until they were both standing in the middle of the living room, staring each other down.
Bella took a step back, folded her arms, and smirked at Alice. "You want to keep going Alice?" Bella made sure to sneer her name. When Alice hesitated, Bella laughed. "Scared? I bet you know that my children aren't very far off."
"Bella, that's enough. I'd kindly appreciate if you didn't threaten my daughter." Carlisle's voice spoke up.
Bella turned towards the stairs and watched as Carlisle, Jasper, Emmett, and Edward descended the stairs. They were going slow for Ashley's benefit and it irritated Bella to no end.
All four of the men walked into the living room and to their respective mates. Jasper protectively wrapped his arms around Alice and glared at Bella. He didn't appreciate Bella threatening her life no matter how much guilt he felt for how Bella turned out.
Bella eyed Jasper. "Take a chill pill Jasper. I don't have anything," Bella paused and thought for a moment, "major against Alice." Bella chuckled. "And Carlisle, I'd kindly appreciate it if you didn't talk to me. But we don't always get what we want, now do we? I should know that best of all."
Everyone in the room sucked in a breath. Everyone that is except Rosalie, who thought they deserved that, and Ashley, who just didn't care. The occupants in the room knew that Bella was talking about how they left her thinking that she deserved better.
Edward took an unneeded breath and blew it out. "Bella," he began. Bella froze stock still in her place. She wasn't facing him and she was glad that she wasn't. "Bella I'm -,"
"Bella!" A new voice called from outside. Bella's body sagged with relief. "Bella, Sadie and Alex are getting impatient." Hailey didn't wait to be invited into the Cullen house. Instead she walked right in and stood at the end of the staircase where she could see Bella and the rest of the Cullen's.
"Bella, I need to talk to you. Can that issue wait?" Edward asked her.
Hailey shook her head. "Nope, they're hungry. We don't do animals and the only human blood around is hers." Hailey looked pointedly at Ashley. "Unless you're willing to risk what will happen if we wait."
"I'm sure you're aware of how newborns are." Bella added.
Edward quickly shook his head. He wrapped his arms around Ashley protectively. "No, it can wait."
Bella glared at their contact. She didn't spare another glance at anyone else as she whipped around and made her way out of the house. "Let's go Hailey. Oh, Alice, I'm sure you're willing to put off planning for a while?" Bella asked her sweetly. When it looked as if Alice was going to protest, Bella said, "Because I'm sure the Volturi would love to hear how you didn't let the children eat and therefore they killed the girl."
Alice tensed. "The planning can wait for a while."
"Good," said Bella.
And then she and Hailey were gone.
o.o.o.o.o.o
BPOV
I ran into the meadow wanting to die. I wanted to die. I was scared, alone, abandoned and now it felt like my heart was breaking all over again.
But mostly, I was human.
I couldn't do anything to stop Victoria. I knew that. And because I knew that I didn't try. I was failing Renee. She was going to die and it was going to be my fault.
Why did I have to be human? Why did they leave me? Why couldn't I be stronger? Why, just why?
I was ready to fall to my knees when I somehow saw it through my blurry vision - the movement in my peripheral vision. I wasn't alone. A part of me hoped that it was Victoria. That she wasn't on her way to Florida right now. That instead she had changed her mind and was going to kill me. It would be too late for Charlie, but for Phil and Renee it wouldn't be. They could live.
"Bella," he started, "why so sad? Hmm?"
I followed his movements. He didn't move fast and he didn't get any closer than necessary. "Laurent? What are you doing here?"
"I was passing through and I thought I'd stop by for a visit with the Cullen's. Do you by chance know where they are?"
It was then that I noticed his eyes. Red. Blood red. Something inside of me told me to lie. "Oh, umm, they went…hunting." It's a shame I was never a good liar.
His eyes turned black and I knew I was in trouble. "Hunting, eh? I'm feeling a little thirsty myself. And you smell simply appetizing." His eyes flashed down to my arms and I looked down as well. I was bleeding. It wasn't anything major, but I knew that it was enough to tempt him. "I'm going to tell you a secret, Isabella. Victoria sent me to watch you. She wants you unharmed and safe while she takes care of your mother and stepfather."
A sob escaped me. She was going to them. I would never hear from them or see them again.
Laurent continued, "Victoria doesn't want me to harm you, but she's not here and I'm exceptionally thirsty. I'll be long gone by the time she figures out what happened. Good Bye Isabella."
Laurent lunged at me. I didn't move. I didn't want to. My family was gone, I didn't have any friends left, and not even the Cullen's wanted me. I didn't have anyone.
'I'm alone.' I repeatedly thought to myself. I welcomed Laurent's body colliding with mine. The force of his impact knocked me back and against a tree. My head slammed against the tree. Once I smelt the blood I knew that I was done for. I only thought of one thing, 'I'll die alone.'
And then everything was black.
o.o.o.o.o.o
"That was nice work at the Cullen's house, Ava." Sadie said.
Sadie was new to the group. She had come in with Alex, Mitchell, and Cody. Only she and Alex had made it out alive after the fight. It was her phasing ability that had helped her survive through it.
Ava smiled. "Thanks."
Sadie slyly took a peek at Ava. She was standing in front of Sadie as they stared out over Port Angeles together. They had just finished hunting and were waiting for the rest of the Coven to regroup.
"So," Sadie began. "Why does Bella hate Edward so much?"
Ava stayed silent. She wasn't sure if Bella would want her to tell Sadie. But the alternative of not telling Sadie would be that Bella would have to tell her herself. And Ava knew that Bella did not enjoy retelling the story.
Ava blew out a breath. "This is going to be short because we have to meet up with the others soon."
Sadie eagerly nodded her head.
"Bella met Edward in high school. Eventually she found out that he and his family was vampires, but she loved him nonetheless. It lasted a year before Edward left her in the middle of the woods saying that he didn't want her."
"Did he lie?" Sadie interrupted.
Ava slowly shook her head, "No. Why?"
Sadie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. It's just that," she paused, "sometimes it does look like he still loves her. But it's probably nothing. Continue," she urged Ava.
"Anyways, Bella was essentially a zombie. She was alive but not living. Charlie, her dad, helped her return to her former self. She was never fully the same, but she was close enough. She went Cliff Diving on the two year anniversary of when they had left her. She nearly drowned. And when she finally got out she felt like something was wrong at the house. By the time she made it back Charlie was dead. Victoria had killed him."
"Oh," said Sadie. She knew who Victoria was. When she had gotten over her transformation, Bella had explained to them what they were. And then she told them about Victoria, Laurent, James, and the Cullen's. Bella left out the finer details though. Like how the Cullen's were once a family to her. She made it sound like they were just…there.
"Yeah," Ava agreed. "Bella ran into the forest after that. Only she ran into Laurent. Bella only remembers him attacking her before she blacked out. Next thing she knows she's waking up as a vampire. She immediately ran all the way to Florida, but she was too late. Her mom and stepfather were both dead as well. Bella says that if Edward hadn't of left her unprotected like he then none of it would have happened. We have to get going." Ava finished.
"Okay," agreed Sadie.
Together the two girls hopped onto the next roof and continued that pattern until they could see the road that led back to Forks. Ava jumped off the rooftop first and Sadie followed. They landed in front of Bella and the rest.
"We're ready, Bella." Ava said.
"Back to more torture," sighed Bella. She wished the Volturi hadn't been so sadistic as to put her through this. The more time she spent around the Cullen's the more she feared that she'd go soft.
Because buried deep inside her, Bella knew that she did love them. So much, that she regretted being mean towards them or putting them through torture. And there was a small part of her that had hoped that Edward had lied and he did love her.
But Bella had buried that part of her. With hate and anger. She blamed them, mostly because she wanted to blame someone. For her zombie period, for her parents death, and for her death.
The Cullen's were the easiest to blame.
And too much time spent with them was making her rethink that.
Every day it was getting harder to hate them. And every day Bella hated herself some more for feeling that. Why couldn't she just hate them?
Why was everything suddenly so complicated?
o.o.o.o.o.o
BPOV
The first thing I noticed was the stench. It reeked. And then I noticed that I could hear everything clearer than before. I hoped I was dead. No more pain. No more nightmares. No more of that broken life.
I popped open an eye and I knew I wasn't dead.
It hit me right away what I was.
I was one of them. When I didn't even want to be one. I had wanted it at one point, but not anymore.
Sure enough I stood up faster than ever. I could hear, smell, taste, see better than before.
The world hates me.
I looked around and found I was still in the meadow. But where was Laurent? And why didn't he finish me off? I spotted blood on a few trees and on the grass. It was mine. What happened after I blacked out? It looked like I was dragged around while I bled. My throat started to itch.
'Renee! Phil!' I suddenly remembered. Victoria was going after them. I didn't think. I didn't wait. I just took off running, again. It seemed like that's all I did anymore was run. I didn't dwell on the fact that Victoria had a head start. I didn't even want to think about her already having killed them. I just hoped that I made it on time.
[Time Lapse]
When I finally made it into Florida I had to stop for moment to remember where Renee said they lived. It was hard. My memories were blurry or disappearing. I didn't want them to.
After a few minutes I remembered. Jacksonville, Florida. I knew the exact address and took off running. I was a vampire so I didn't want to chance going near anyone and searching for a map. I just had to run through Florida until I found Jacksonville.
And eventually I did find it. Luckily for me it was already night.
I flew down the streets until I found the one that I wanted. I saw and heard the sirens before I got to the house.
I was too late. Victoria had made it there before me. Still I was hoping that maybe I had gotten the address wrong. Maybe it wasn't Phil and Renee and they were just fine.
I didn't stop instead slowing down to a human walk. I approached the house and a cop that was holding back the gathering crowd.
"Excuse me," I began. "Could you tell me what happened?" I think it was more my looks that got him to give me a full answer.
"A neighbor alerted the cops that she hadn't heard from her friends for two days. Told us it was odd because she saw them every day. They were both found dead in their house."
I sucked in a breath. It hurt. The itching in the back of my throat was worse now that I was surrounded by humans. But I couldn't give myself away. And I was too preoccupied to do anything about it.
"What were their names?" I asked the cop. Please don't say their names.
"Renee and Phil Dwyer, I believe it was."
I wanted to cry again. But I couldn't because of course vampires don't cry. I was ready to leave when what he said next stopped me.
"Their kid is fine though."
I wheeled around and looked at him. He didn't? Did he? "What?" I asked him. I must have been hearing things.
"Yeah, the kid was at some friend's house. The lady watching her said she was giving them some time to themselves and offered to watch the girl."
I swallowed. Renee had a-another daughter? And she never told me? "Do you know her name? And how old she is?"
The cop nodded his head. "Bree Tanner Dwyer. She's a few months over two years old."
I couldn't wrap my brain around it.
I had a…sister?
o.o.o.o.o.o
"Okay, the last thing we need to do is pick out some music." Alice said.
"Why?" Bella absentmindedly asked. She wasn't paying attention. She just liked getting on Alice's nerves.
"For the reception."
Bella groaned. "There's a freaking reception? Why can't we just push them down the aisle, do the damn vows, and then have everyone disperse? We don't need to celebrate."
"It's my wedding and I want a beautiful wedding with a reception. I want my wedding to be celebrated." Ashley said.
"And I want you to be quiet." Bella retorted. "We're both shooting for the impossible here."
"We're doing a reception, Isabella, and you had better be happy around the guests." Ashley gritted out. She was getting tired of Isabella putting her down and trying to ruin everything.
Rosalie leaned over to Bella and not so quietly said, "Don't worry, Bella. We can always see if a vampire can get drunk."
Bella and Rosalie laughed while the others tried to ignore them.
It had been a long day for both Bella and the Cullen's. The colors, placements, seating arrangements, flowers, invitations, and every little detail had been taken care of.
Bella and Rosalie weren't really any help in planning. They preferred to be as cynical as they possibly could.
Rosalie's reasoning that she didn't want the wedding to happen. She didn't want Ashley as her sister-in-law. She didn't want to have to live an eternity with Ashley. She wanted Bella to be her sister-in-law. She was hoping that her stupid brother would get his head together sometime before the vows.
Bella's reasoning that she just didn't want to be there. She was forced to be there and the Volturi said nothing about her having to play nice. So she didn't. Instead she was having fun putting down Ashley.
But in the process, Bella was forming a friendship with Rosalie. And that wouldn't do. She didn't want any ties with the Cullen family. It was harder than Bella thought to not talk to Rosalie though. They had too much fun together raining on the wedding parade.
It took them almost two hours to pick out the music for the wedding. Bella and Rosalie kept laughing at Ashley's suggestions (It was like she was twelve or something) while they kept on suggesting hardcore non-wedding music.
"Finally," Alice sighed. "We're done. It only took us…two days." It was well into Friday night.
The wedding was less than 24 hours away. It paid to have an endless supply of money. Alice managed to talk (bribe) a lot of the companies that her and Ashley wanted into pushing aside their other clients and helping them first. Everything was just barely going to be ready on time tomorrow. The planning probably would have been a lot faster if Bella and Rosalie were more helpful, but they weren't and therefore it had taken them longer than necessary. Also, Ashley didn't want Alice planning anything while she slept. They lost about nine hours waiting for Ashley to wake up from her 'beauty sleep' as she called it. Bella and Rosalie snickered that she'd need all the 'beauty sleep' she could get.
Bella stood up to leave. "Well as exciting as this has been," she sarcastically started," I'm headed back to my place. Later."
"Bella, wait," Bella stopped but didn't turn towards Alice. "The wedding is at six p.m. tomorrow. You should be here at noon to get ready. It could start earlier. It depends on when the Volturi will show up."
"Sure Alice," agreed Bella. She couldn't do anything else. The Volturi had roped her into being in the wedding anyways. "Noon it is. Oh by the way, the Volturi will arrive promptly at six. Just a little tidbit for you."
Bella laughed and left the Cullen house.
Tomorrow was the day that she cut herself from all Cullen contact – forever. It was the day that the little hope that was left in her died.
And Bella both welcomed and dreaded it.
Holy Batman! This chapter took long. Sorry, about that. But finding a beta did help me. I finally thought of how I wanted to word this. So Beta's do help (even if they don't fully know it).
Anyhow, I should have the next chapter up soon. I have someone who will make sure I do…I think.
So to reward me ^^ I think that you should hit me up with a review.
Thanks!
REVIEW!...please.
Xx. Liv.
